Adolescent Development: What
Do Our Students Need to
Succeed?
Lynda Geller, Ph.D.
Spectrum Services
Important Areas of Adolescent
Development
—  Social
—  Executive functioning
—  Academic
—  Personality
—  Independence
What Are Critical Periods and Why
Are They Important?
—  Critical periods occur during periods of rapid brain
growth when a skill is most easily learned and retained
—  Infants learn to hear and identify the specific sounds of
native language
—  Young children most easily acquire the language of
sociality
—  Language areas become mylenated during early
adolescence
What Are Critical Periods and Why
Are They Important?
—  Adolescence is a time of massive brain change,
especially in the frontal lobes which control
executive function
—  Myelination increases 100% during adolescence
—  Executive function includes working memory,
impulse control, problem solving, and inhibition
—  Social-emotional development during adolescence
is critically determined by the unfolding of
important brain functions, the experiences
occurring at this time, and the interaction effect
between the two
Jacob L. Driesen
6 Execu&ve Func&on Execu&ve func&on refers to a wide range of abili&es including planning, organiza&on, goal selec&on, flexibility, self regula&on, inhibi&on, and set maintenance. They are called execu&ve func&ons because they represent the organiza&on and control mechanisms of the person. These cogni&ve processes are thought to be mediated by the frontal lobes. 7 Execu&ve Func&on —  A significant effect of execu&ve func&on deficits is oDen a pervasive problem in planning and organiza&on that may be viewed as laziness, noncompliance, or willfulness. —  ODen an individual who had been viewed as par&cularly bright as a young child is seen as less and less competent because of inability to organize and accomplish tasks less intelligent individuals do easily. —  Execu&ve func&on demands increase substan&ally by 4th grade and increase every year thereaDer —  Individuals with ASDs usually have execu&ve func&on deficits. 8 Execu&ve Func&on —  Difficulty holding informa&on, par&cularly if it is presented orally —  Trouble following direc&ons —  Keeping track of things —  Remembering what to do —  Following tasks through to comple&on —  ForgeOng to bring needed items to school or work 9 Execu&ve Func&on —  Lateness —  Reac&ng tearfully or aggressively to transi&ons —  Lack of readiness or general disorganiza&on —  Poor planning or &me management-­‐cannot accomplish long term projects —  ODen spending an inordinate amount of &me on a small aspect of a task, running out of &me for the rest —  Distrac&bility impeding sustained concentra&on —  Impulsivity, causing pursuit of more appealing ac&vi&es Executive Function
—  Young adolescents who manifest these problems need
—  Evaluation of executive function difficulties
—  An explicit plan for remediation of those that may be
impaired
—  A well delineated plan on the IEP that specifies what kind
of remediation will be provided and what supports must be
in place across teachers and classes
EXECUTIVE FUNCTIONS —  Inhibit: Control impulses; stop behavior —  ShiD: Move freely from one ac&vity/situa&on to another; transi&on; problem-­‐solve flexibly —  Emo&onal Control: Modulate emo&onal responses appropriately —  Ini&ate: Begin ac&vity; generate ideas —  Working Memory: Hold informa&on in mind for purpose of comple&ng a task —  Plan/Organize: An&cipate future events; set goals; develop steps; grasp main ideas —  Monitor: Check work; assess own performance —  Aben&on: Regulate and modify how much aben&on is needed and where Disorganization and poor executive
function
Executive function problems are an issue for many students.
The most important element in addressing difficulties is to
specify just what is the interfering skill issue.
Neuropsychological evaluation versus identification of
functional skill deficits.
Disorganization
and poor executive function
Functional measures
—  The BRIEF (Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive
Functions)
—  Barkley Deficits in Executive Function Scale
There are many evidence based approaches to supporting
executive function in mainstream classes. They should be
specified on the IEP.
T Score
³100
T Score
³100
95
95
90
90
85
85
80
80
75
75
70
70
65
65
60
60
55
55
50
50
45
45
40
40
35
35
£30
T Score
Percentile
Raw score
Missing
£30
Inhibit
54
81
14
0
Shift
80
≥ 99
19
0
Emotional
Control Initiate
48
49
61
55
13
12
1
0
Working
Plan/
Org. of
Memory Organize Materials Monitor
61
58
58
73
≥ 99
87
79
81
18
23
13
21
0
0
0
0
BRI
60
81
46
1
MI
61
85
87
0
GEC
62
86
133
1
T Score
³100
T Score
³100
95
95
90
90
85
85
80
80
75
75
70
70
65
65
60
60
55
55
50
50
45
45
40
40
35
35
£30
T Score
Percentile
Raw score
Missing
£30
Inhibit
83
≥ 99
27
0
Shift
77
≥ 99
19
0
Emotional
Control
Initiate
91
76
≥ 99
≥ 99
30
22
0
0
Working
Plan/
Org. of
Memory Organize Materials Monitor
73
72
55
78
≥ 99
96
95
71
26
32
13
23
0
0
0
0
BRI
90
≥ 99
76
0
MI
74
97
116
0
GEC
82
≥ 99
192
0
Differences Individuals with ASDs May Have in
the Development of Emotional Regulation
Possible biological differences
—  Physical expression of emotion may be delayed or
altered
—  Feeling overwhelmed by overstimulation
—  Coordination of socially relevant motor actions
—  Perception of faces, nonverbal cues
—  Slower processing speed
Differences Individuals with ASDs May Have in
the Development of Emotional Regulation
—  Less ability to differentiate among negative emotional
states
—  Poorly developed knowledge about one’s own emotions
What May Happen for Individuals on
the Spectrum?
—  Individuals with ASDs may have various underlying
biological differences that affect emotional
regulation development.
—  Individuals with ASDs often have limited social
opportunities that would give them the necessary
experiences to develop emotional regulation.
—  Uneven development often sabotages interaction
between biological and social elements in emotion
regulation.
Critical Periods of Emotional
Development
During infancy and early childhood, there is
development of
—  Perception of faces and emotional expression
—  Recognition of one’s own emotional state
—  Understanding of the social rules that govern
emotional expression
—  Development of motivation to regulate emotional
expression
—  Understanding of social context
Critical Periods of Emotional
Development
—  During childhood and early adolescence emotional
experience and cognitive processes are still not well
integrated
—  During adolescence and early adulthood sophisticated
emotional intelligence develops that is crucial to
navigating the adult social world
Critical Periods of Emotional
Development
Critical changes during adolescence
—  Increased capability in mature forms of behavior
—  Improved impulse control
—  Improved focus and attention skills
—  Growth in social coordination, language capacity, and
cognitive function
How are Emotional and Social
Development Related?
—  Developing social relationships depends on
—  Proximity
—  Familiarity
—  Similarity
—  Emotion matching
—  Self disclosure
—  Empathy
—  Emotion display advertises an individual’s
emotional and interpersonal traits
Addressing Emotional Regulation and
Social Development
—  Availability of social partners
—  Development of positive rather than
negative outlooks to bolster energy for
emotional regulation
—  Minimization of negative environmental
elements (e.g. bullying)
—  Creative use of social coaching and supports
The Social Thinking Approach
Strategies
—  How their own social minds work - why they and
others react and respond the way they do
—  How their behaviors affect the way others perceive
and respond to them
—  How this affects their own emotions, responses to
and relationships with others across different social
contexts (socialthinking.com, Michelle Garcia
Winner)
The Social Thinking Approach
Goals
—  Recognize that they and others have different
perceptions and abilities to process social
information
—  Navigate their social thinking, social interaction
and social communication toward more
rewarding outcomes
—  Learn to better adapt and respond to the
people and situations around them
The Social Thinking Approach
Social skills issues addressed and integrated
—  Concept formation
—  Theory of mind and perspective taking
—  Executive function (cognitive organization,
multi-processing, emotion naming and
regulation)
—  Social information processing
The Social Thinking Approach
Social skills issues addressed and integrated
—  Social initiation and motivation
—  Processing nonverbal cues
—  Inferential language
—  Coping with the unexpected and rigidity
—  There are multiple manualized materials that can be
effectively utilized with individuals or groups
Developmental Changes in
Social Support
—  Children share with mothers 93%, fathers 89%, sibs 48%,
best friends 33%, peers 37%
—  Adults share with partners 75%, family 30%, friends 20%
—  Between 12 and 17 friends, best friends, and romantic
friends replace parents and family as primary
—  There is a dramatic change during this time from
playing with others to the development of social roles
as the dominant way of interaction
What can families do?
1.  Be wise consumers of social skills groups.
Ask about plans and generalization
strategies.
2.  Learn how to plan and execute
contextually supported play dates and
get-togethers. (Koegel et al. 2005)
What can families do?
3. Utilize strengths and interests
Children and teens are at their most
typical when they are reciprocally engaged
in activities of high interest
Demonstration of strengths creates social
desirability
Personality Development
Biopsychosocial Model
—  Personality development is influenced and shaped
by
—  Biological constitution
—  Psychological factors
—  Social context and experiences
—  Personality traits arise from
—  Temperament and underlying
neurodevelopmental processes
—  Social learning
Psychological Contributions
—  Personality is shaped by the cumulative effects of
many experiences.
—  Quality of life is dramatically affected by
personality.
—  Chronic stress, rather than individual events have
the greatest potential to amplify personality traits.
(Monroe & Simons, 1991)
Social Contributions
Social learning is the mechanism by which culture
shapes personality
—  Peer groups influence child personality
development (Rutter & Rutter, 1993)
—  Authority figures, especially teachers, significantly
affect development.
—  Social context and community values influence
personality development (Bronfenbrenner, 1979)
Social Contributions
—  Social risk factors are characterized by lack
of useful social roles
—  Social protective factors are characterized
adequate access to useful social roles.
—  As children become teens, their social roles
outside of home become more important in
defining their identity and developing
personality
The Social Devastation of Peer
Rejection
—  Peer relationships provide the context for
social-emotional development and adjustment,
profoundly influencing behavior, personality,
and adaptation.
—  Peer influence is complementary to parent
contribution and eventually supersedes it.
—  Peer environments are necessary to practice
social skills, including playing fairly, taking
perspective, negotiation, conflict resolution,
controlling aggression, and experiencing
intimacy.
Friendships
—  Satisfy innate needs for affection, intimacy,
and reliable companionship
—  Foster feelings of self-worth, the
development of empathy, and perspectivetaking skills
—  Serve as prototypes for later romantic and
intimate relationships
—  Peer rejection can be less harmful if there
is one best friend (Parker & Asher, 1993b)
Social Competence
—  Not simply a collection of discrete social skills
—  Ability to organize social behavior in a way that
elicits positive responses in a variety of different
contexts and consistent with social convention
—  Skills must be used flexibly in response to ongoing
social feedback and includes multiple skills of
social-cognitive and affect regulation to select and
enact social behaviors that are responsive to
unique, ever changing social situations (Bierman &
Welsh, 2000; Sroufe, 1996)
Loss of Social Learning Opportunity
—  Children with ASDs have social skill deficits and
behavior problems that make it difficult for
them to make friends and gain acceptance
from peers.
—  They may become entrapped in a negative
developmental spiral in which the behavior
leads to ostracism and/or victimization by
peers, which deprives them of opportunity to
learn positive social skills and contributes to
feelings of loneliness, resentment, anxiety,
depression, and alienation (Bierman, 2004) and
helps create long-lasting personality styles.
Intervention Strategies
1.Need to focus on building social
competence and reducing problem
behaviors. The role of behavioral,
cognitive, and affective components in
fostering regulatory and organizational
capacities associated with social
competence must be recognized
Intervention Strategies
2. Interventions must account for the
development of competent interpersonal
processes, rather than only the child’s
inadequate characteristics
3. Interventions should seek social
opportunities and focus of friendship
building, as well as more general peer
interaction skills
Intervention Strategies
4. By understanding underlying
developmental processes, especially
executive function, we can specify what
particular interventions are individually
necessary for best outcome in the areas of
Social
Academic
Personality
Self Advocacy and Independence